Ipswich Vs Liverpool - the rematch 22 years later!
The first match of the Premier League kicks off at 12:30
Portman Road will be the home of the first match of the Premier League seeing Ipswich Town FC go up against Liverpool.
The significance of this match is not lost on red or blue fans. The last time these two teams went up against each other was 22 years ago, which is also the last time Ipswich played in the Premier League, as losing 5-0 to Liverpool caused them to be relegated.
This time round, the Tractor Boys appear to be preparing by bringing in new transfers worth nearly £60m.
Signings
Yesterday two new singings were announced by ITFC
England midfielder Kalvin Phillips has signed for Ipswich on a season-long loan from Manchester City.
After struggling at West Ham last season, Phillips arrives at Portman Road hoping to improve his form for the Premier League new boys.
Ipswich have also completed the permanent transfer of striker Sam Szmodics from Blackburn.
The Summer Signings
June: Ipswich Town have completed the club-record signing of Omari Hutchinson from Chelsea by signing a five-year deal of £ 20 million plus £2.5m in add-ons and a 20 per cent sell-on. This means he will be wearing white and blue till 2029.
Hutchinson spent the season on loan with the then Championship club and helped guide them to promotion.
Ipswich Town have also agreed on a deal to sign Kalvin Phillips on loan from Man City until June 2025. This however does not include a buy option clause as per the initial agreement.
Ipswich beat out three other clubs who asked for Phillips, who is set for medical/signature if all goes to plan.
At the beginning of the month (August), Town completed the signing of Conor Townsend from West Bromwich Albion.
A 31-year-old full-back, Conor came through the youth ranks at Hull City and has had previous spells at Grimsby Town, Chesterfield, Carlisle United, Dundee United and Scunthorpe United all on Loan while tied to Humberside club.
Back in July, we saw a few more signings for the Tractor Boys with Captain Sam Morsy signing a new contract with the Club until 2026.
The midfielder played a central role in Town’s back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League.
During this month they also announced the signing of Arijanet Muric (Aro).
Pealing him away from Burnley with a four-year contract at Portman Road
Another addition that came to the team was Ben Johnson who arrived via free transfer
Previously he had been with West Ham for 17 years and made 109 senior appearances for the Hammers.
Jacob Greaves also joined in the Summer, securing 5 years at Portman Road and turning down a five-year deal with West Ham in the process as well as other clubs.
The defender joins from Hull City, he made his league debut for Hull in a 3-0 win away to Rochdale back in October 2020 and in total featured in more than 150 league games for the Humberside club.
Manchester City was another club which had to say goodbye to one of its players, with Lian Delap signing on with Ipswich until 2029.